A small selection of pictures from the conference have also been uploaded under Outcome.
]]>> Find the conference programme here.
A number of studies and reports suggests that one of important prerequisites for the competitive bioeconomy is availability of well-trained workforce with the necessary knowledge and skills, be it academia, industry or primary production sector, and across both public and private domains, and finally across different levels of skills.
Enhanced investment in research and innovation and adapting education and training possibilities to today's needs are necessary to maintain European leadership in science and to react to global challenges. What is also needed is a new combination of skills: new hybrid skills (combining hard and soft skills), new learning systems (such as problem based learning) and new cross-disciplinary and solutions-focused skills for those in science but also those in industry, primary production and public domains.
The registration is open until November 12, 2012.
> Read more about the conference here.
The expected outcome is a shared understanding of the issues of growing the bioeconomy, and shared viewpoints of natural and social scientists, economists and environmentalists.
> Read more about the conference here (external link)
> See the conference programme here (external link)
The conference is organised by University af Alberta, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, and held in Banff, Alberta, Canada.
]]>The report describes the talks and discussions from the Stakeholder and Partnering Conference on the second day of the Bioeconomy in Action conference.
A report of the forst day of the conference is under preparation.
Find presentations and declaration from the conference here.
]]>Niels Gøtke, who was one of the organizers of Bioeconomy in Action, presented the Copenhagen Declaration for a Bioeconomy in Action at the Czech conference.
Read about and download the Copenhagen Declaration for a Bioeconomy in Action here.
Maive Rute, director of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation's 'Biotechnologies, Agriculture, Food' Directorate in the European Commission, talked about waste, over-exploiting and sustainability.
The conference was arranged by The Czech Liaison Office for Research and Development and the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic.
Read more about the Czech conference "Towards a sustainable bioeconomy in Europe: how the Czech Republic is making the difference " here (external link).
]]>Already in 2008, Ireland published its Foresight Report “Towards 2030 – Teagasc’s Role in Transforming Ireland’s Agri-Food Sector and the Wider Bioeconomy”.
The four pillars are:
1. Food production and processing
2. Value-added food processing
3. Agri-environmental products and services
4. Energy and bio-processing.
Download the Irish Foresight Report here (pdf).
The “Swedish Research and Innovation Strategy for a Bio-based Economy” was published in March 2012 by the Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS).
The following research and development needs were defined:
The analyses identified a need for the closer involvement of users/consumers in prioritising knowledge gaps and new problem areas. Formas will therefore establish a User Forum to function as an advisory resource for those funding the research. Much of the work of implementing the strategy can be carried out within the framework of existing resources. If a major new initiative in the area is to be implemented then additional resources will be required. This presupposes that there are resources for this in state finances.
Download the Swedish Research and Innovation Strategy for a Bio-based Economy here (pdf).
Norway has published a preliminary research programme from 2012-2022 on “Sustainable Innovation in Food and Bio-based Industries”, BIONÆR.
The following cross-cutting perspectives will apply to all research activities under the BIONÆR programme:
Download the preliminary BIONÆR programme plan here (pdf).
In July 2011, a “Bio-economy Committee” was formed in British Columbia, Canada.
The Committee concluded that there is an urgent need for the government to take a leading role in the further development of British Columbia’s bio-economy.
The Bio-economy Committee formulated a set of recommendations for government to hasten productive economic development of BC’s bio-economy sector. The main pillars of the recommendations are:
Download the bioeconomy strategy of British Columbia here (pdf).
The Netherlands also has produced a bioeconomy strategy working paper with proposals to the European Commisison. The working paper of The Netherlands is focusing at
- Integrated approach
- The whole value chain of biomass
- Opportunities for agriculture
- A level playing field
(The bioeconomy working paper from The Netherlands is at the moment not available online.)
The German BioEconomy Council released it's first recommendations in 2009 and second recommendations in 2011. It also has published a number of reports on bioeconomy potential and growth.
Read more on the German BioeconomyCouncil and its recommendations here.
Apart from the countries that have already formulated bioeconomy strategies and plans, a number of countries are working on producing their own.
For instance, the Finnish authorities are working on a bioeconomy strategy. The Finnish Forest Industries Federation has done much work on considering its role and possibilities within bioeconomy.
Read more about bioeconomy and Finland’s forestry sector here (external link).
]]>The BioEconomy Council presented the priorities that it has set out for its research fields on 14 June 2011.
In the Council’s estimation, this setting of priorities will make it possible to achieve the objectives of the Federal German Government's “National Research Strategy Bio-economy 2030”.
According to this the most pressing need is to breed new crop plants and farm animals, secondly to develop more efficient cultivation technologies and reduce harvesting losses, and thirdly to utilise soil as a resource on a more sustainable basis.
Download the BioEconomyCouncil Recommendations No. 2 here (pdf).
The first recommendations "Combine disciplins", "Improve parameters", "Seek out international partnership" were delivered in July 2009.
Download the BioEconomyCouncil Recommendations No. 1 here (pdf).
In 2010, the BioEconomyCouncil handed over it's first report to the Minister of Research and the Minister of Agriculture.
The report places emphasis on increasing biomass yield volumes and more efficient production processes in the food and energy sectors.
Download the Bio-economy-Innovation-Report-2010 here (pdf).
Visit the German BioEconomyCouncil's website here (external link).
But also in the US has the potential of the bioeconomy been recognized. In April 2012, the Obama Administration released the bioeconomy strategy "US National Bioeconomy Blueprint".
The American strategy has many similarities with the European, and has five major objectives:
A small selection of pictures from the conference have also been uploaded under Outcome.
]]>The strategy has three main pillars:
Download "Innovating for Sustainable Growth: A Bioeconomy for Europe here (pdf).
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